Chapter I – the animal shelter
It was a sunny day, when a car stopped
in front of the animal shelter. Out came a man, a woman and a child.
“Are we getting a cat today, Mummy?”
asked the child.
“Yes,” said the woman, “we are
getting a cat.”
The lady of the animal shelter asked:
“Hello, what can I do for you?”
“I want a cat,” said the child.
“Yes, we would like a cat,” said
the woman. The man said nothing.
“Come with me,” said the lady of
the animal shelter. “We have many cats that are looking for a new
home.”
There were many cats in the shelter.
There were big cats, small cats and tiny kittens. There were white
cats, black cats, and all colours in between.
“Oh, Mummy!” said the child. “The
kittens are so cute!”
“Yes,”
said the lady of the animal shelter, “they are very cute, but they
are still too young to take with you. You would have to wait three or
four weeks.”
“But
I want a cat now”,
said the child.
The lady of the
animal shelter took them to a big cage. “These are cats that you
can take home now,” she said.
Chapter II – the cage
In the cage, there
were many cats. A white cat said: “Look, there are people. Maybe
one of us will get a new home today.”
“Oh,
I would love a new home!” cried a tabby cat.
“Yes,
we would all love a new home,” said the white cat.
A brown-and-white
cat said: “I heard that if you live with people, you can play all
day, and lie on soft beds, and they will love you and pet you and
feed you.”
One cat was black,
and quite big, with just a little white spot. “I'm going to look
really cute. I'm sure they will pick me.”
The white cat said:
“Some people don't like black cats. They say they bring bad luck.”
“Nonsense,”
said the black cat. “How can I bring bad luck, just because I'm
black? And anyway, I have a little white spot.”
The white cat said:
“You have to remember that people aren't very smart. They can't
even catch a mouse on their own. They go to school for many years,
and still they can't catch a mouse.”
“That
is very silly,” said the brown-and-white cat. “Every cat knows
how to catch a mouse.”
“It's
worse,” said the white cat. “If they fall, they don't land on
their feet.”
“Really?”
asked the brown-and-white cat. “So what happens if they fall? Do
they get hurt?”
“Yes,”
said the white cat. “They get hurt.”
“That's
very silly,” said the brown-and-white cat.
Chapter III – the choice
“They
are all very nice cats, Mummy,” said the child. “I don't know
which one to choose.”
“Yes,
they are all very nice cats,” said the lady of the animal shelter.
“Do you like this black one?”
The child looked at
the cat. The cat looked at the child. “Meow,” said the cat.
“Yes,
Mummy, this is the cat I want,” said the child.
The man spoke for
the first time. “That's a very big cat,” he said. “It's almost
the size of a dog.”
“Don't
be silly,” said the woman. “It's a lovely cat.”
“The
black cat it is, then,” said the lady of the animal shelter.
The child picked up
the black cat, and said: “You are coming home with us.”
“Meow”,
said the black cat.
The woman said to
the man: “Honey, get the box.”
The man got out a
small cage. He tried to put the black cat into the cage, but the cat
struggled. “The cat doesn't want to go in,” said the man.
“Let
me do it,” said the woman. She picked up the cat, petted it, kissed
it, and gently put it in the box.
“Now
pay the lady for the cat, dear,” the woman said to the man.
The man got out
some money and gave it to the lady of the animal shelter.
Chapter IV – the farewell
“Help!”
cried the black cat. “Help! They put me in a box!”
“Yes,”
said the white cat, “that is what people do. They are afraid that
you will run away.”
“I
don't want to run away!” yelled the black cat. “I want to go home
with them!”
“Remember,”
said the white cat. “People are not smart like cats. They do silly
things all the time, like putting cats in boxes. They will let you
out when you get to your new home.”
“Help!”
cried the black cat again. “Let me out of the box!”
The white cat said:
“They cannot understand you. People don't speak Cat Language.”
“Really?”
asked the brown-and-white cat. “Are people really that stupid?”
“Yes,”
said the white cat. “They are really that stupid. They cannot catch
a mouse, they cannot land on their feet, and they don't speak Cat
Language.”
The brown-and-white
looked worried. “How can they look after us, if they cannot do even
simple things? How do they feed us?”
“They
have food in cans,” said the white cat. “That is how they feed
us.”
“And
who puts the food in the cans?” asked the brown-and-white cat.
The white cat
thought about this. for a moment. “Cats, obviously,” said the
white cat. “People aren't smart enough.”
Meanwhile, the
black cat was carried away by the family.
“Bye!”
cried the black cat.
“Bye!”
cried the brown-and-white cat.
“Bye!”
cried the white cat.
“Don't
forget to write!” cried the tabby cat.
The white cat
looked at the tabby cat, and said: “Cats cannot write, you know.”
“Oh,”
said the tabby cat. “I forgot about that.”
Chapter V – the journey
“Meow!” cried the black cat.
“Why is the cat meowing, Mummy?”
asked the child.
“The cat is happy to come home with
us,” said the woman, “and that's why she cries.”
“I think,” said the man, “that
the cat wants to get out of the box.”
“Keep your eyes on the road,
sweetheart,” said the woman. “Did you see that car in the side
road?”
“Yes,” said the man, “I saw that
car. It is waiting for me to pass.”
“I just want you to be careful,
that's all,” said the woman.
“Yes, Daddy, be careful how you
drive,” said the child.
“Meow”, said the cat.
The man said nothing.
“How will you call the cat?” asked
the woman to the child.
“She has a little white spot, so I
will call her Spot,” said the girl.
“Spot? That's a name for a dog,”
said the woman.
“Yes,” said the man, “that's a
name for a dog.”
“Meow,” said the cat.
“It's not a name for a dog. It's a
name for a cat and I will call her Spot,” said the child.
“Well,” said the woman, “if you
like that name for your cat, you can call her Spot. It's a good name
for a cat, isn't it, Daddy?”
“I still think that...”, the man
started. The woman looked at the man. “Yes,” said the man, “it's
a good name for a cat.”
“Meow,” said the cat.
Chapter VI – a new home
The man stopped the car in front of a
house. It was a nice house, thought Spot, the black cat. All the
people got out of the car, and the man carried the box with the cat
inside the house. He opened the door of the cage. Slowly, and
carefully, Spot, the black cat, crept out of the box.
It was such a big house! The cage at
the animal shelter had been twenty cat tails long and ten cat tails
wide, but the house was much, much bigger. It was so big, that the
black cat could not even count how many tails would fit on each wall.
As the black cat, who was now called
Spot, walked through the house, she saw another cat. It was a small,
ginger-and-white cat.
“Oh, hello,” said Spot.
“Hello,” said the ginger-and-white
cat.
“My name is Spot,” said the black
cat.
“Spot? That's a name for a dog,”
said the ginger-and-white cat.
“I am not a dog,” said Spot. “I
am a cat.”
“You are very big for a cat,” said
the ginger-and-white cat. “Are you sure that you are not a dog?”
“Yes,” said Spot, “I am sure that
I'm not a dog. I am a cat. I have pointy ears, and a soft fur, and my
feet have claws.”
“I still think that it is a silly
name for a cat,” said the ginger-and-white cat.
“It is not a silly name!” yelled
Spot. “What is your name, then?”
“My name is Puss,” said the
ginger-and-white cat.
“That's a silly name, too,” said
Spot.
“Well, at least it is not a dog's
name,” said Puss.
“It is not a dog's name!” yelled
Spot. “What are you anyway? Some mini cat?”
“If I am Minicat,” said Puss, “then
you are Megacat.”
Chapter VII – first contact
“Do you think that Puss and Spot like
one another, Mummy?” asked the child.
“Yes, I am sure of it,” said the
woman. “Look, they are already talking friendly to one another.”
“Meow,” said Puss.
“Meow,” said Spot.
The man said nothing, and was about to
sneak out of the room.
“Honey”, said the woman, “have
you cleaned the cat litter yet?”
“Er, no”, said the man. “I, er,
was just about to do it.”
“I think we need another cat litter,
now that we have two cats, don't you think?”, said the woman.
“But we don't have a second box”,
said the man.
“Well”, said the woman, “maybe
you should go and buy one from the pet shop then? And maybe some
extra litter?”
The man said nothing, and took his car
keys.
“And get some more toys for the cats,
and some food bowls”, said the woman.
“Yes, dear”, said the man.
“Meow”, said Spot, now also known
as Megacat.
“Meow”, said Puss, who got named
Minicat.
“What are the cats saying to each
other, Mummy?”, asked the child.
“They aren't talking”, said the
mother. “Cats can't talk, after all.”
The cats looked at her, and said
nothing.
Chapter VIII – the great divide
“Look”, said Puss, or Minicat, “let's be clear about this. This is my house, and it's from the kindness of my heart that I allow you to live in it. You may have...” She paused to think. “You may have the garage. That is where the food and litter tray are, so obviously I will use it as well.”“That seems a little unfair”, said Megacat. “You're just a small cat. You don't need the whole house to yourself.”
“I will not have the garage to myself”, Minicat observed.
“Whatever!”, cried Megacat. “You're just a small cat. You don't need the whole house...”
“Except the garage”, Minicat pointed out.
“...except the garage just for you. We can share the house.”
“Share?”, asked Minicat, and she looked very surprised, as if Megacat had just grown another tail.
“Yes, share”, said Megacat. “In the animal shelter, we would share everything.”
“What a silly idea”, said Minicat. “Why would you want to share something?”
“Well”, said Megacat, “because otherwise some cats would have more than others. And that wouldn't be fair. They would be unhappy.”
Minicat thought about that for a while. “Did you also share with dogs?”, she asked.
“Of course not”, said Megacat. “Dogs are silly animals. They can't catch mice, can't land on their feet, and can't speak Cat Language.”
Minicat seemed relieved at that. “It's worth trying, this sharing that you mention”, she said.
